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Surah 39. Az-Zumar
Ayah 42 - 44
42 ٱللَّهُ يَتَوَفَّى ٱلْأَنفُسَ حِينَ مَوْتِهَا وَٱلَّتِى لَمْ تَمُتْ فِى مَنَامِهَا ۖ فَيُمْسِكُ ٱلَّتِى قَضَىٰ عَلَيْهَا ٱلْمَوْتَ وَيُرْسِلُ ٱلْأُخْرَىٰٓ إِلَىٰٓ أَجَلٍ مُّسَمًّى ۚ إِنَّ فِى ذَٰلِكَ لَـَٔايَـٰتٍ لِّقَوْمٍ يَتَفَكَّرُونَ
43 أَمِ ٱتَّخَذُوا۟ مِن دُونِ ٱللَّهِ شُفَعَآءَ ۚ قُلْ أَوَلَوْ كَانُوا۟ لَا يَمْلِكُونَ شَيْـًٔا وَلَا يَعْقِلُونَ
44 قُل لِّلَّهِ ٱلشَّفَـٰعَةُ جَمِيعًا ۖ لَّهُۥ مُلْكُ ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ ۖ ثُمَّ إِلَيْهِ تُرْجَعُونَ
[42-44] It is Allah Who takes the souls at death and the soul of the one, who has not yet died, during sleep.60 Then He withholds that for whom He decrees death and restores the souls of others till an appointed time. In this there are many signs for the people who reflect.61 What! Have they taken besides Allah others as intercessors?62 Say to them, "Will they intercede even if they have no power whatever nor understanding?" Say, "Intercession is wholly in the power of Allah.63 His is the Kingdom of the heavens and the earth. Then, to Him you will be returned."
60"Taking the souls during sleep" implies the suspension of the powers of feeling and consciousness, understanding and will.
61By this Allah wants every man to realize how life and death are entirely in His own hand. No one has the guarantee that he will certainly get up alive in the morning when he goes to sleep at night. No one knows what disaster could befall him within a moment, and whether the next moment would be a moment of life for him or of death. At any time, while asleep or awake, in the house or outside it, some unforeseen calamity, from inside his body or from outside, can, suddenly cause his death: Thus, man who is so helpless in the hand of God, .would be foolish if he turned away from the same God or became heedless of Him.
62That is, "In the first place, these people have foolishly presumed that there are some beings who wield great influence with Allah, and whose intercession is never turned down, whereas there is no proof of their being intercessors at all, nor has Allah ever said that they hold such a position with Him, nor did these beings themselves ever claim that they would use their influence with Allah and help them out in every case. Another folly of these people is that they have ignored the real Master and have believed the imaginary beings to be all powerful, who deserve to receive all their devotion and dedication.
63That is, "Not to speak of getting his intercession granted, no one has the power to stand before Allah as an intercessor. The right to grant or not to grant anyone the permission to intercede with Him exclusively rests with Allah. Then He may allow intercession for whomever He may please and forbid for whomever He may please. " (For understanding the difference between the Islamic concept of intercession and the polytheistic concept, see Al-Baqarah: 255, Al-An`am: 51, Yunus: 3, 18, Hud: 105, Ar-Ra`d 11, An-Naml: 73, 84, Ta Ha: 109-110, Al-Anbiya': 23, Al-Hijr: 76, and the E.N.'s thereof and E.N. 40 of Saba.